With the BBC still tight-lipped about who might fly the Eurovision flag in Stockholm next May, Ireland has turned to a familiar face – former Westlife singer Nicky Byrne.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ will be hoping that the singer, who also appeared in the 2012 season of Strictly Come Dancing, can reverse the country’s waning fortunes at the contest. Between 1970 and 1996, Ireland won Eurovision a record-breaking seven times. In recent years, it has struggled to qualify for the grand final at all. The last time they qualified in 2013, they finished dead on the scoreboard – making UK entrant Bonnie Tyler’s 19th placing look like a relative triumph.

Byrne confirmed his participation this morning with the release of a lyric video for his entry Sunlight. It’s a catchy, up-tempo pop-rock confection that at least rocks a little harder than the soporific ballads on which his former group made their name. Assuming his years of stage experience translate to a confident live show, it should be enough to bring Ireland back into the finals, though it lacks the uplifting spark of recent winners such as Heroes, Euphoria and Rise Like a Phoenix.

Meanwhile, after the dismal results achieved by performers such as Engelbert Humperdinck, Bonnie Tyler and Electro Velvet, the BBC has vowed to give the UK public a say in choosing our entrant for 2016. The exact nature of this has not yet been announced, but it is known that an open call for submissions was publicised late last year. Further details are likely to be announced in the next few weeks.

The public is going to choose Britain’s Eurovision entry - what could possibly go wrong?

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In the pop music powerhouse of Sweden, the annual hunt for a Eurovision representative is a major TV event in itself, with the nation’s most popular performers battling it out for the honour in a fiercely competitive, arena-sized event known as Melodifestivalen. However, in other countries – the UK and Ireland included – the humiliation factor of failing at the first hurdle causes many established performers to shy away from televised national finals, leaving only untested amateurs with little or no big stage experience, and older artists who are long past their prime.

If the BBC wants to set us back on the path towards Eurovision success, they could do worse than look at the Dutch model of recent years. Between 2004 and 2012, the Netherlands failed to qualify for the finals on eight consecutive occasions. Public interest understandably decreased and credible performers gave the Dutch national final a wide berth. In 2013, the broadcaster scrapped the show and started offering more established stars the opportunity to put together an entry entirely on their own terms.

As it turned out, the moment the Dutch stopped pandering to a dated idea of what “a good Eurovision song” was supposed to look and sound like, and instead focused on creating a professional and organic musical package, their fortunes dramatically increased, peaking in 2014 when the gentle country ballad Calm After The Storm by The Common Linnets achieved global chart success and was narrowly pipped to Eurovision victory by Conchita Wurst – herself personally selected by the Austrian broadcaster and given the opportunity to put together a song and stage show that played to her strengths.

By comparison, the BBC has too often relied on dated power ballads from old school performers such as Tyler and Humperdinck, or gimmicky, amateurish fare from the likes of Electro Velvet. While an actual star is probably too much to hope for, hopefully the BBC’s open selection will at least uncover an entry we can actually be proud of this year. Or if that’s too much to ask for, it’s worth bearing in mind that Nicky Byrne’s first taste of Eurovision exposure came when he read out the Irish votes last year. Your move, Nigella ...